Playing with 2 Speedlites

Most of the time I only use 1 flash unit when I go out and shoot but I always bring two, in case one malfunctions I still have another one to use. Sometimes I use both, one as my main light and the other one for my highlight.

Last year I did a practice shoot with Thelma, a casual shoot with no themes or concept whatsoever. My idea was I’m going to use 1 light and put it outside the door to mimic light coming from a lamp post and give her highlights on her left side. I attached a DIY reflector bowl on the flash to make the light more circular and directional, flash was on full power. I took some photos, I’m liking them but I’m not seeing much of her shape or her dress with a nice lace for texture. So I decided to use another flash unit with a medium sized softbox and placed it around 4 ft away from her right side with a lower flash power, It will act as my main light now and will illuminate her and show the texture on her dress. You can see the final result below…

I liked the result, my main light gave her nice illumination, shown the texture on her dress and gave her a bit of shine on her legs. My highlight flash gave what I intended it for and thanks to the door with a screen, it provided a nice spread of flare effect to it.